McCarthy in charge of Intrawest’s Eastern resorts Former Whistlerite Roger McCarthy is now responsible for all five of Intrawest’s resorts in Eastern North America. McCarthy’s promotion, to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Eastern Region, Resort Operations Group, means he is now responsible for the long and short term success of Mont Tremblant and Mont Ste. Marie in Quebec, Stratton in Vermont, Snowshoe in West Virginia and Mountain Creek at Vernon in New Jersey. A press release says the new position "reflects Intrawest’s rapid growth in recent years, and provides a dedicated resource for the region’s ski operations, lodging, golf and summer attractions, which combined host over two million visits annually." Coinciding with McCarthy’s appointment was the promotion of Michel Aubin to the new position of President at Tremblant. Aubin and McCarthy had both been vice presidents at Tremblant in a structure similar to Whistler/Blackcomb, where Doug Forseth and Dave Brownlie are senior vice presidents of operations and finance, respectively. "These two appointments position us well to prepare for the future growth and expanded business opportunities that we anticipate as we continue to fulfil the great potential of all our eastern resorts," Hugh Smythe, president of Intrawest’s Resort Operations Group, said in a release. When Intrawest purchased Tremblant in 1991, McCarthy was appointed vice president and general manager with responsibility for daily operations and the on-mountain capital expansion. During his tenure at Tremblant winter visits have increased from 345,000 to more than 620,000. Prior to going to Tremblant McCarthy was director of human resources for Blackcomb for a year. Before that he held various operations and management positions at Whistler Mountain over a 17-year period. As senior vice president, Eastern region, McCarthy will report directly to Smythe. He will establish an office in a central location for the region. Aubin takes on full operating authority for all aspects of winter and summer resort operations at Tremblant and will represent Intrawest’s business and governmental relationships within Quebec. Aubin, who has been vice president of finance for Tremblant since 1991, will report to McCarthy. Aubin has taken the lead role in putting together the financial resources essential to achieving the first $500 million of investment in Tremblant and has recently put plans in place for the second $500 million required for Phase II development of the resort. Phase II, announced last September and scheduled for completion by 2002, foresees $46 million being spent on infrastructure, $88 million on mountain expansion and the development of four-season activities and $366 million on tourism accommodation. In addition to the hotels that will be built in the village, plans include two more championship golf courses (one will open this summer), a golf academy, a themed mountain-top attraction, an equestrian centre, an outdoor amphitheatre, an expanded network of recreational trails, new beach and tennis facilities, five new lifts and significant expansion of skiing and snowboarding terrain. All three levels of government will take part in the project and provide financial support for infrastructure improvements.
